Watch the Watchers: Join Us! Friday, May First as we join in on Union del Barrio’s March going from 7th and Alvarado into downtown LA. We’ll be meeting at 2:30 pm in front of the Downtown UCLA Labor center (675 Parkview at 7th Street) for a finalWatch the Watchers training. Thereafter, we’ll document and film police technology and tactics at the upcoming march which begins at 4pm.

The Facade of Broken Windows & Community PolicingHarper’s Magazine Digs into the Propaganda

Petra Bartosiewicz exposes the facade of community policing, Bill Bratton’s broken windows “theory,” and LAPD’s speculative and hunch based policing in the May edition of Harper’s Magazine. Please download the article here.

May 14th–Save the Date: Upcoming Human Relations Commission Hearings

On May 14th, in South LA, from 5:30 to 8:00pm, the LA City Human Relations Commission (HRC) will be holding its first event on Suspicious Activity Reporting, Racial Profiling, Use of Force, Gang Injunctions, and other public safety issues. The events, titled: “What does LA think about Community Policing” begin Thursday May 14th as a part of a year long process that the HRC has committed to.

The Stop LAPD Spying Coalition is not sitting by idly however. We have to hold the HRC accountable and make sure that our voices get heard, and are not railroaded by planted cop-sympathizers and bureaucratic hand-wringing. This week, we have offered a new detailed proposal on what these events should look like and cover. The HRC has, quite suspiciously, not yet declared where the event will be or what topics it will specifically cover. We see this as an attempt to foil our mobilization. We intend to pack that meeting and make sure our community challenges the narrative of counter-insurgency and community policing. Join us,as we make history in participating in one of the first civic events nationwide to look at the local architecture of state surveillance!

The Coalition Goes to the Department of Justice

On April 14th, the Coalition held a press conference and, once again, visited the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners (LAPC) to admonish and denounce their failed oversight and dismissiveness of community concerns. The LAPC fails in holding LAPD accountable for its brutality, botched programs, and intentional sabotaging of the federal court’s Consent Decree.

Due to the LAPC’s callousness and rubber-stamp function, the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition has submitted a formal complaint to the United States’ Department of Justice under Attorney General Eric Holder to Re-Open the 2001-2013 consent decree that was imposed on LAPD when the US Dept. of Justice found the LAPD incapable of self governance, and the City of Los Angeles and the LA Police Commission incapable of providing oversight.

We bring this issue to the attention of the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) for two reasons. First, we believe that the actions of the LAPD and the Commission unlawfully amount to “a pattern or practice of conduct … that deprives persons of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.” Second, we believe such practices are not new to the LAPD, and that such practices clearly violate the terms of the 2001 consent decree. We are also concerned with what appears to be intentional sabotage of specific terms of the 2001 consent decree. Evidence indicates that officers in LAPD South Bureau and LAPD Central Bureau strategically tampered with in-car video system equipment.

Stay tuned as we keep the community updated on the effort to bring real oversight to the LAPD and it’s failed Police Commission. #LAPCFAILS

Need Your help – Action Through Social Media

The Stop LAPD Spying Coalition is asking for your help with expanding our social media coverage. Here are some quick and easy ways you can help in the effort to effectively use social media as a weapon in the fight against LAPD brutality and oppression:

2. Once you have “liked” the page, you will find an option to invite your friends on the page. Please take a few moments to invite your friends list to “like” the page. You will see a small “invite” button next to each one of your friends. Hit that button for each of your friends (they should appear on a drop-down list.)

3. Share Stop LAPD Spying Coalition facebook posts.

4. Follow us on twitter @stoplapdspying

5. When you see a Stop LAPD Spying Coalition tweet, please re-tweet using the hashtag #LAPCFAILS